Things I'm loving lately (besides fall)



Market Pantry cake and sprinkles ice cream from Target

Bolthouse Farms very berry smoothie - it tastes like a healthy slurpee!



These tanks from H&M - I love how long they are!

Octupus drying rack from ikea - perfect for drying cloth diapers!

Aden & Anais blankets - I have to be honest - I wondered what the big fuss was with these blankets, but I love them!

Smiles from my lovebug

All these different faces!

*Disclaimer, I wrote this post back at the end of August and am just now getting around to posting it - but I am still loving all of these things. Even though I had to force myself to stop buying the ice cream from Target...I could go through a half gallon of it every week!

A (much more subdued) Birthday Week Recap: List Style

Due to being 9 months pregnant and having to work most of last week, Birthday Week was a little more low key this year, but I still tried to enjoy as much of it as possible.  Here's a recap!

• Bailey and I spent our mornings off (last weekend, 4th of July, this weekend) enjoying coffee on the back deck.  This weekend was a little more hot than usual but still very tolerable (especially compared to the heat wave we had last year)!  Well, I should say that I spent the mornings relaxing, Bailey spent the mornings stalking our next door neighbors until they let her in to give her treats.  She's lucky they love her as much as she loves them :)

• Tuesday was my actual birthday, and I had to work (booooo).  It was actually (thankfully) a pretty light day. I was able to go for a walk around my favorite area (North Pond Nature Sanctuary) at lunch and lately a day at work isn't complete without a trip to Yogurtland!  

Birthday Flowers

• We were off of work on the 4th so I tried to pretend that was my day off from my birthday.  I slept in, had coffee on the back deck, completed a few sewing projects and took a trip to JoAnn where I found some good deals on some fabric I've had my eye on for a while. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet, but I'm sure something will come to me :)  Since everyone in Chicago sets off their own fireworks every year (still getting used to this concept), we sat on the back deck for a little while that night to watch them.  Bailey is definitely NOT a fan of the fireworks. She's so good though, she doesn't whine or cry or bark or beg, she just goes to the door and not so subtly lets us know she is ready to go back inside :)

• Saturday night we decided to have a date night. Not a bad way to end Birthday Week!  We've had this gift card to the movies for a few years, and if you know us, you know that we don't really go to the movies that often. In fact, the last movie we saw was Star Trek in 2009 in Birmingham.  There wasn't really anything playing that we were super excited to see, so we figured we'd stick with tradition and saw Star Trek 2.  After the movie we went to dinner at Bonefish Grill.  Neither of us had ever been there, and we had some gift cards from a while back that just this week I realized we could use there.  It was delicious, and a perfect way to end Birthday Week. 

Weekend Favorites: List style

My favorite things about this weekend/week:

• I had 3 day weekend (have I mentioned how much I love my new schedule)?  Also, I was "back-up" on Saturday but I didn't get called into work....double bonus!
• There was a "Weekend Preview" of Hallmark Countdown to Christmas (=cheesy Christmas movies!!)  It "officially" starts this Friday, November 9th (and I may or may not have it listed on my calendar on my phone).  Okay, I do.
• My favorite holiday happened this weekend...okay, so Daylight Saving Time isn't a "holiday" per se. I still like to celebrate getting an extra hour of sleep!
• I went downtown to meet a friend who just had a baby. My friend looks amazing and her baby is adorable!





C was kind of bored with the convo

• Free trip to the Art Institute of Chicago (above mentioned friend has an annual pass)



• I now consider myself an expert parallel parker. It's one thing to parallel park downtown Chicago, but when you have to weave in and out of the supports of the El tracks, it adds a whole new dimension.
• Jess's Birthday dinner at the King Crab Tavern. Mmmmmm seafood!  Happy Birthday Jess!!

• Bailey enjoyed handing out candy with her friend Izzy (french bulldog) on Halloween.  Okay, so maybe they didn't "hand out candy" as much as they tried to pounce on each other in the small front area of our building while trick-or-treaters tried to dodge them and asked for candy from every single person sitting out there (regardless of if we were holding a candy bowl or if we were empty handed)

All the pics I have of B and Izzy are a complete blur. Those two do not stand still long enough to get a good pic!

• Halloween while working at a children's hospital = so much fun!  My coworkers dressed up again too! This time a little bit more appropriate than their "party costumes."

Can you believe my friend Colleen made these?!  I'm so impressed with her sewing skills!

• Bailey has been a bugger ALL. WEEKEND. LONG.  This. Every time you sat down.  I think all she wants is to be invited up on the couch. Man is she persistant.

• Since it's November and we live in Chicago, I decided today I should probably bring my basil plant inside. But then I remembered that it is practically a small tree and I didn't want that giant thing in my house! Luckily, a small little part decided to branch off and grow it's own roots so I repotted that and brought it in to the kitchen window sill.  The remainder of the plant got clipped off and will be brought into work.  Everyone loves free basil! (Well, at least all of my coworkers seem to enjoy it)!

Look at the size of that "trunk"!

Updates: List Style! Casinos, Marietta, EI, & Bails

Because by now you absolutely know how much I love making lists...

• Last weekend I got a surprise phone call from my friend Paige who was in town for the day to visit her husband who was here doing business.  Wes was in meetings all day, so Paige and I met up for lunch and caught up.  After lunch, we had some time to kill, so what better way to enjoy a hot summer afternoon than inside a Casino?!  I can't even remember the last time I was in a casino (Las Vegas? AC?) but I knew I wanted to head right toward the nickel slots!!  Paige tried her hand at some Blackjack, and actually won $40 (at one point).  I don't think my math skills are sharp enough to play casino blackjack!! 

• We've been meaning to have our friend Jess over all summer, so she was finally able to come over and chill with us last Saturday night.  We grilled out and enjoyed the cooler weather on the back deck.  Bailey loved having the extra attention! And we got to hear updates on Marietta, since Jess' sister is now fostering her (and hopefully adopting her)!!
• I am almost finished applying for my Early Inter.vention licensure for the state of Illinois.  I had to take an 9 hour online course which I completed a few weeks ago. This past Friday I drove an hour away to sit in an all-day course which basically reiterated everything that was in the online course.  And oh, I should mention that it took me an hour and 45 minutes to get home.  Ugh! All I have to do now is get fingerprinted (to make sure I'm not a criminal) and send in the application. It's going to feel so good to get this checked off of my To Do List!!
• And because "the people" have been requesting pics of Bailey, I'll leave you with this. You have to give the people what they want, right?!

P.S. In TWELVE days I can start burning my Pumpkin Spice Candles!!!  Hooray for FALL!!!!

Updates: Picture/List style

Whoops, 2 weeks without an update...that's very unlike me.  Truth is there isn't a whole to update about!  Here is a list/picture list of "updates!"

• Our two downstairs neighbors moved out :(  We were pretty bummed to see them both go.  We've met our new neighbors briefly and they seem nice.  It won't be the same but at least they seem normal :)
• Joe and Laura (the best man in our wedding and his wife) are coming to visit Memorial Day weekend!  We can't wait!  Ditka's here we come!!
• I'm obsessed with Scramble with Friends.  alb245 if you want to play!
• And now for the pictures..........

Hoping to get another 60K!!

Our plants are growing like crazy, and we have a new "Mystery Plant." This little guy snuck in with our Oregano seeds and tried to pass himself off as Oregano, but he clearly didn't fit in. Anyone have an ideas what he could be??



Bailey and I had a photo shoot the other night.  She was trying to be all fancy with her crossed paws.



This little guy came to visit us. He was all puffed out.



The end.

Things I am Loving right now

• Walks by the lake during cancellations/free meeting times (Enjoy pics below!)


• Having Fridays off! Well, only today really. But I'm playing around with my schedule and may try to work something where I have every other Friday off. I already am required to work 2 late nights and it really does put a damper on my week, so I might as well cram a few extra hours into my weeks and enjoy a couple of 3 day weekends every month! Especially since my dreams have been crushed (ok, so I'm being a little dramatic) and it is now looking like I will still have to commute out to the suburbs 2 days/week for the next year or so.


• This unseasonably warm weather! Everything is in bloom, I'm wearing flip flops, and enjoying being outside this time of year


• Coffee and after work drinks on the balcony


• Mad Men premieres this Sunday!!!!


• Grilling out and hanging with the neighbors in the back yard. I'm really bummed that our 2 downstairs neighbors are moving next month! It's so wonderful to get along so well with everyone who lives in our building!


• Fresh flowers


• Long short-sleeve sweaters (on super clearance!) from Macy's that allow me to wear yoga pants and leggings to work! With the amount of time I spend sitting and/or crawling around on the floor OR wrapping my body around some kid to get the alignment that I want, I should be wearing these types of pants every day!!

A peek into our week

5 days of sickness
4 days of missed work
3 boxes of tissues
2 sick adults
1 exhausted puppy

Bailey took care of us during our sick week. Her dog bed is on Tom's side of the bed but she slept on my side the past 3 nights and sat up and put her nose on the bed to check on me whenever I would cough. She also kept Tom company in the middle of the night when he couldn't sleep. I got sick first but I think I'm just about over it and hoping to go back to work tomorrow (wooo, 1 day work week). Unfortunately Tom just started getting sick yesterday so if his course is anything like mine was he won't be feeling better until Sunday.

Some Project Goals

So I feel as though I'm a pretty goal oriented person, however I have kind of been slacking on my monthly goals for the past, oh I don't know, year and a half! I think I've been a little hesitant to keep up with my monthy goals because I have a tendency to put too much on my plate and then stress out when I don't accomplish all of it, even if there aren't "real" deadlines associated with it.

With the new year comes my rejuvination for being organized and productive, and with being organized and productive comes (my favorite) lists! I thought about making a weekly post with one project goal that I would like to accomplish each weekend, but again I don't want to put any time constraints on this and the last thing I need to do is stress out over it. So here is my list of weekend projects that I hope to complete over the next few months (some obviously sooner than others).

• Take down the Christmas tree


• Put away Christmas decorations


• Go through stuff and make another trip to Good Will


• Organize coat closet (This should probably be done before the Good Will trip)


• Reorganize 2 of our kitchen cabinets and find homes for everything (just about everything) that has been living on the countertop for the past month


• Go through my file drawer


• Move my desk contents over to Tom's our desk (we consolidated to 1 computer)


• Decorate for Valentine's Day


• Plan and cook meals for February vacation


• Inventory the freezer contents


• Plan meals for upcoming busy week nights

Things I am Loving Right Now

Trader Joe's Wasabi Peas

Yuengling

Skinny Pop popcorn

Sons of Anarchy

Sitting on the back deck enjoying a cup of coffee

Taking an accidental break from couponing

Bailey playing in the lake

Grilling dinner with Tom while Bailey runs around in the back yard

Mojito's

Getting back into running

LONG tank tops

$2 Jeans

Teen Mom (Can't help it!!)

Lazy weekends

Accidentaly Domestic Weekend

When Friday rolled around I had absolutely no plans of being productive, let alone domestic, this weekend. It's so much better to have nothing planned and accomplish a lot than the other way around. Here's a list of all of the domestic-type activities I did this weekend without even planning to :)

• Did all of my laundry


• Ironed enough clothes for the next 2 weeks


• Made Mint Syrup...then proceeded to spill 3/4 of the mint syrup when I was trying to put some on my canteloupe this morning :(


• Made Tomato Sauce (with tomato paste and water and sugar...because I was out of tomato sauce)


• Made Taco Soup for the freezer


• Made my own bread crumbs (Ummm, we were out and I needed some for the burgers. Besides, we had a few hot dog buns that needed to be used up).


• Made burgers from scratch


• Divided and froze the 6 pounds of ground beef we got from Costco (well, 4 pounds after the burgers and the taco soup)


• Cleaned out my computer


• Ground up 2 lbs worth of whole coffee beans in the blender (we got free coffee from Costco...wooo!)

Okay, I think that's it! It doesn't sound like much now that I listed it all out....but now all I have to do is sit back and relax for the rest of the evening (and "supervise" Tom while he grills our burgers).

Things I'm addicted to lately...

• ID Network (specifically Disappeared and 48 Hours Mystery)


• Finding a vacation rental with the following requirements: Bailey friendly, less than $200/night, less than 7 night minimum requirement, semi-secluded, with a hammock, on Lake Michigan


• Izze's


• Online shopping....adding things to "my cart" and then closing the internet before I buy them


• The super far-off extremely distant idea of working part time


• My morning coffee


• 3 day weekends


• Getting stuff for free with coupons (Frugal Made Fun style, not crazy Extreme Couponing style)


• Mad Men


• Increasing our Savings


• Parks and Recreation


• Aussie Leave-in Conditioner


• Salsa with cilantro


• Febreeze Luminaries "Yumberry Sangria" scent

Random List of Updates

Because, as you all know, I love making lists!

• (In case you didn't notice) I changed my blog name and header again! The creative Brian Dranka Anne Dranka came up with the name (Thanks Anne!), and I played around with Google's Picasa until I got something I liked.
• Last weekend we drove up to Milwaukee to ring in the new year with our good friends, Anne and Brian, who moved to Milwaukee last January. We had a wonderful evening starting off at the Milwaukee Ale House where we enjoyed some flights and appetizers. Oh, and a Keg Christmas Tree. We went back to Anne and Brian's house for a cheesy goodness dinner and spent the rest of the evening hanging out. The puppies enjoyed reuniting and Bailey had a blast devouring her rawhide while Bentley was just not as "in" to her rawhide. We tried some of the new "Champagne Beer" made by Sam Adams, and it was quite good.
• Tom and I are officially residents of Illinois! We've been putting it off since we moved, but finally decided we just need to bite the bullet, wake up early Saturday morning, and get new drivers licenses and tags for our car. It was actually not bad, except for the small amount of anxiety we both experienced when they told us we had to take a written test! Fortunately, we both passed, and an hour later we emerged with Illinois drivers licenses, new car tags, and are now registered to vote in Illinois.
• My brother is coming to visit next weekend! Matt recently got a job with United and will be passing through Chicago Friday night on his way back from training in Dallas. We're planning to go exploring in the city and of course hit up another deep dish pizza place! I'm thinking Gino's East but we'll have to wait and see.
• I'm taking a little "break" from my frugal blog. I really do enjoy keeping up with it, but lately there have just been too many things on my plate. We're going to change up our "plan of attack" for grocery shopping, which I am so excited about because it has been stressing me out more than you can imagine (Publix...I miss you!)
• I love edamame! Okay, for some reason Tom thinks that probably everyone doesn't want to know this, but this is a big step for me! I don't like beans (unless they're all mushed up from the food processor or immersion blender), and I've never been crazy about soy, but for some reason, I have been obsessed lately with soybeans!

Random List of Updates

Because, I love to make lists

• The Saints won the Superbowl! Old news, I know, but I haven't had time to really sit down and blog since before last Sunday! We watched the game at the house of one of the post-doc's in Tom's lab. Him and his wife are about 10 years older than us, have 2 kids, a dog, and drink a lot of beer. Tom and I always joke that they are us in 10 years. It's funny because when Doug told his wife that we were coming, she was like "I love Tom and Anne, they're so fun! Remember when we were that fun??" I hope we're still fun in 10 years :)

• Avocados were on sale last week, so I bought a bunch and figured I'd make some homemade guacamole. I had never made it before. Don't ever put extra virgin olive oil in your guacamole. Ever. Bad recipe!

• We finally got some SNOW!!! Almost 2 inches!!! I forgot how pretty it looks right after it snows and it's all undisturbed on the trees and the bushes. Bailey had fun sniffing the snow and trying to eat it. (This was the next morning, so it was already melting away)


• Happy Valentine's Day!! Tom and I celebrated with Pizza Hut, Verdi, and Fatso draft from Dee's. It was perfect. And he sent me pretty flowers at work on Friday. Awwwwwwwww ;)

• My friend Penny ran the Mercedes Marathon today. My other friend and I went to cheer her on! We even made signs!!


• Even though we are moving sometime in the next 6-12 months AND despite the fact that we're trying to save money like mad by June, I've had the strongest urge to redecorate. So today I went to Tuesday Morning and bought a mirror to hang above the couch and 2 super cute new throw pillows for the couch. The damage wasn't too bad (you know I got a good deal) and I think my urge is satisfied....for a little while at least. I'll post a pic after Tom hangs the mirror. Although I may get impatient and try to do it myself. The last time that happened our clock ended up being a teeny bit uncentered. Ooops :)

• I made gnocchi tonight. It was an easy recipe I got online. It made me reminiscent of the last time I had gnocchi....at gnocchi night with our friends. Sad.

Awesome things of last week

• We went to dinner (Habanero's...woo wooo) with our friends Brian and Anne who were heading out of town for a conference followed by Thanksgiving visits with family. Brian gave me this book from his dad (Thanks Mr. Dranka!!!) from The Pioneer Woman's website which I love!! Her recipes are awesome because she gives you a step-by-step photo how to. Saturday morning for breakfast we made Egg-in-a-hole and Tom said it's the best thing he's ever eaten....although, he says that at least once every 1-2 weeks...he's easy to please :)

• My favorite radio station in Birmingham, Live 100.5 always has awesome give-aways that you can call in to win. I've been trying to call in from time to time and you usually have to be caller #5 to win. I've called in probably 10 times and 9 of the times I was caller #4 (once I was caller #3). I was beginning to think that there was a conspiracy against me. Last week were driving to work, listening to the radio, as always, and Reg started talking about an acoustic concert coming up that benefits Children's Hospital. Train is the band who is playing and in case you don't remember, I kind of love their new song "Hey Soul Sister." Reg said he had a pair of tickets to give away to caller number 17. Totally random since he ALWAYS gives them to caller #5. So I decided to call and guess who is caller #5??? ME! Too bad I had to be caller #17 to win! So I called again and I was caller #13 and then I called again and I was caller #17!! Wooooo! I won!!! So Tom and I will be going to see an acoustic show of Train and Serena Rider (sp) Friday December 4th at 5 Points Music Hall if anyone wants to join us!! (Tickets are only $15).

• The next day driving into work we were listening to my favorite radio station again and they were giving away a $50 gift certificate to a local spa!! I've never been to the spa so I was going to try my luck and call in to win. Well, guess what? I was caller #5, I won, but since I won the day before I couldn't actually win :( Reg said he appreciates my honesty so I'm hoping he appreciates it enough to slip a $50 gift card to the spa in with my free Train tickets when I go to pick them up ;)

• Every Sunday I go out and buy the paper. A few weeks ago a friend told me she got a good deal on the paper, 26 weeks of the Sunday/Wednesday paper for $1/week. I checked the mail on Wednesday when we got home and there it was, the same exact offer! It was so wonderful to just open the front door and have the paper be there this morning!

This week should hold more awesome things as Thanksgiving is right around the corner! Stay tuned for more posts! I promise I'll be a better blogger this week!

Things to do before I turn 35

Around my 29th birthday, I started thinking about how at one point in time I had wanted to make a list of things to do before I turned 30. Unfortunately that never happened, so I started to make a list of things to do before I turn 35. I forgot about it and came across it the other day while I was looking for something else on my computer. The cool thing is I can already cross one thing off my list!! Here it is...a work in progress.



Things to Do Before I turn 35

• Have a baby (or maybe 2…or maybe 1 with another on the way)
• Buy a house (or be in the buying process)
• Be studying for, or have already taken (AND PASSED!) my PCS exam (Pediatric Certified Specialist)
• Spend a day (or weekend!) at the spa (and not worry about how much money I’m spending)
• Go to the Great American Beer Festival in Denver (not sure if this one is going to happen!)
• Buy a new couch (the most super comfy awesome couch ever)
• Own 2 flat screens, at least a 42” one in the living room and at least a 32” one in the bedroom :D
• Still be blogging :)
• Have Bailey trained so she can be out of her crate 24/7
• Open a Roth IRA
• Be in some kind of leadership role at work Done!!
• Have thoroughly gone through everything we own so we don’t have a lot of clutter or extra stuff we don't really need
• See the Eagles win a Superbowl (Ha!)
• Have 33% of my student loans paid off
• Go to a Penn State away game

I'm sure I'll think of more in the next 5 1/2 years, but this is a good start for now :)

Things I am LOVING right now....

• Pumpkin Spice candles
• Football!!
• An excuse to eat constantly all day on Saturday
• My new position at work
• Anticipation of cooler weather
• Our newly organized linen closet
• This song by Lily Allen
• Baking
• Season premieres are starting this week!
• Bailey being fully house trained (she has been now for several months actually, I just didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t want to jinx it!)
• Kisses on my forehead when I'm asleep
• Oktoberfest (Both Sam Adams and the upcoming FTH festival)
• Bailey's tongue hanging out the side of her mouth when she is tired